With Nico Iamaleava joining UCLA, everybody loses

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, right, and defensive back Rickey Gibson III, left, celebrate a win over Vanderbilt in November. Iamaleava is transferring to UCLA.The UCLA football program has a coach with a losing record, losing seasons in six of the last nine years, a losing bowl record, and a losing-their-minds fan base.

This is a disappointing outfit desperately in need of a field leader, a staunch huddle general who can command loyalty and model integrity and win the battles.

So what do they do?

They hire a deserter.

They hire a kid who just quit on one of the country’s top programs, who fled during the worst possible time because his monetary demands weren’t met, and who was booted…